Truth and Honesty: The Best Policy?
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Truth and Honesty: The Best Policy?
I flew LGW-JER on Friday morning with BA. The guy in front of me in the check-in queue was either a comedian or being brutally honest; when asked whether he had packed his bag personally he answered "no" - his wife had done that for him.
When asked whether someone could have interfered with his bag he answered "yes", adding that he had checked his bag into a left luggage facility at Victoria Station in central London while he had attended to his business.
The poor bagger's feet hardly touched the ground when two hefty police women came along to take him "for further clarifications".
And no: I did not see him on the flight, nor in the baggage hall at Jersey.
When asked whether someone could have interfered with his bag he answered "yes", adding that he had checked his bag into a left luggage facility at Victoria Station in central London while he had attended to his business.
The poor bagger's feet hardly touched the ground when two hefty police women came along to take him "for further clarifications".
And no: I did not see him on the flight, nor in the baggage hall at Jersey.
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I answered ‘no’ to the question ‘has this bag remained in your possession since you packed it?’ in Washington DC, checking in for Europe. Big Mistake. I made the flight, just.
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It's a liability/guilt thing. The airlines and the security authorities (particularly in Fortress USA) only want to accept your baggage if you accept full responsibility/liability for whatever may be revealed through x-raying, searching etc. So if you don't give a clean 'yes - I packed it and nobody else has so much as brushed past it since that point' response, then they regard you as suspect.
Reminds me of someone entering the USA at JFK a few years ago with his wife and young children for a holiday. He ticked 'yes' to the 'have you ever had difficulty gaining entry to the USA before?' type question. Reason being when he was a child (in the '60s) his family had visited the USA, but had some clerical error with their visa, which delayed their clearing immigration by an hour or so whilst it was rectified. This was explained in great detail to the goons at JFK, but because they couldn't verify something that far back (he should have just said nothing in the first place really), they wouldn't allow the family to clear immigration and so sent them all back to the UK on the next flight.
Reminds me of someone entering the USA at JFK a few years ago with his wife and young children for a holiday. He ticked 'yes' to the 'have you ever had difficulty gaining entry to the USA before?' type question. Reason being when he was a child (in the '60s) his family had visited the USA, but had some clerical error with their visa, which delayed their clearing immigration by an hour or so whilst it was rectified. This was explained in great detail to the goons at JFK, but because they couldn't verify something that far back (he should have just said nothing in the first place really), they wouldn't allow the family to clear immigration and so sent them all back to the UK on the next flight.
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I always did wonder what would happen if you answered honestly to this, because I also have my wife pack my bags and have accepted bags prepared by my sister without checking them. Also have left bags out of my sight at times.
In fact when I worked on cruise ships we used to take the crew bags from them the night before they disembarked on leave, and would open and inspect a selection of them for theft and they'd receive the bag again on clearing customs in the terminal before heading straight to the airport.
In fact when I worked on cruise ships we used to take the crew bags from them the night before they disembarked on leave, and would open and inspect a selection of them for theft and they'd receive the bag again on clearing customs in the terminal before heading straight to the airport.
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A pack of white lies
About fifteen years ago when BA flew planes to Melbourne we produced two large suitcases at the Heathrow check-in desk . It was a few days before Christmas and the words that the check-in lady used were startlingly unusual . As best as I can remember her words, what she said was
We agreed with her, while silently registering that she was completely off-script - words like this should not be said, and if they were said could only have been said casually after the standard scripted words . I wonder if in deliberately asking us this leading question she was suffering from the consequences of having too many honest travellers prior to us.
The check-in lady might have been a mind reader . We were of course carrying presents given to us by the other grandparents . And we have done this every Christmas on our annual visit to Melbourne . These presents are from people of our generation, born in the thirties who do not fly because it is so dangerous (or was dangerous when they were young) . The last occasion was two years ago . We just accepted wrapped presents from the other grandparents in England . And when we handed them over to our son or daughter in Melbourne we would simply say these are from George & Peggy . We never told our children that we did not actually witness these presents being wrapped up . And what is fundamental and relevant is that we are the "guilty" ones who once told these children of ours
"Guilty" is the wrong word . It is important in the upbringing of any child that they are taught to tell white lies . This teaching is how we teach our little ones the social good manners of thinking before speaking.
Of course you don’t have any Christmas presents in here other than those that you have wrapped?
The check-in lady might have been a mind reader . We were of course carrying presents given to us by the other grandparents . And we have done this every Christmas on our annual visit to Melbourne . These presents are from people of our generation, born in the thirties who do not fly because it is so dangerous (or was dangerous when they were young) . The last occasion was two years ago . We just accepted wrapped presents from the other grandparents in England . And when we handed them over to our son or daughter in Melbourne we would simply say these are from George & Peggy . We never told our children that we did not actually witness these presents being wrapped up . And what is fundamental and relevant is that we are the "guilty" ones who once told these children of ours
Father Christmas does not leave presents for children who don’t believe in him.
